Five key players of Tien Giang football club received text messages from a strange mobile number suggesting they fix matches to receive 100 million dong (over $5200).

Captain Quoc Anh.

The club’s chair, Ho Thanh Son, on February 27, after his team lost 1-2 in the home stadium in the match against Binh Duong club, talked with Coach Nguyen Van Thinh.

“Thinh told me that there was something wrong with that match. He also said Captain Quoc Anh reported that some players received text messages from a strange number suggesting they fix the match. These players reported the case to managing director Nguyen Nam Hung. I assigned Hung to investigate the case,” Son explained.

Two days later, Son talked with Captain Quoc Anh to know more.

Quoc Anh said that on February 21 he and four other players – Nhat Tan, Phuc Hiep and goalkeeper Thanh Hai – received messages from an unknown number. This person asked players to play poorly at the upcoming match against Binh Duong to receive 100 million dong. Quoc Anh reported the case to Coach Nguyen Van Thinh.

Quoc Anh and the four players received other messages from this number on February 22 and 24, but they didn’t reply. Finally, they all received a message claiming that if they didn’t do it, the message-sender would just “buy” other players.

“I’ve reported this to Tien Giang province’s officials and asked the police to investigate,” Son stated.

Since players received the messages, Tien Giang has lost three consecutive matches, including the match against Binh Duong. On March 13, Coach Nguyen Van Thinh resigned and was replaced by Do Van Minh.

Son asserts that the team’s failures are technical, not cases of match-fixing.

Some speculate the messages aimed to breed dissension within the team because 100 million dong for five players is not enough for a player to commit match-fixing when the bonus for winning is more than 100 million.

The case is still under investigation. Son also wants to reward the four players who reported the case to the team’s leaders.

PV